Jikan to Kūkan no Chi o Seifuku
by Kyoki Kamanoke Shinigami
Summary: A story about a new Konoha in which Kushina out lived her husband and took on the mantle of Hokage, giving Naruto a better life and improving the quality of the academy. This story follows two Uzumaki orphans and their quest to right wrongs. It is being Co-Authored. The story line and plot are open to change. Will be of epic length. R&R and clean those key boards. OCs.
1. Chapter 1

Jikan to Kūkan no Chi o Seifuku

Authors Note: Please Read. We spent hours a day working out the plot for this story, and the past few days drafting this and then writing it. A lot of effort went into this, JUST so you people can read this. Please review.

Chapter One/Prologue Part One

"How did you do it, Minato…?" Kushina sighed, sitting at the desk of the Hokage, the hat on the desk in front of her. She rubs her temples, fighting off a head ache as she glances over at the cradle moved to be besides the desk, seeing her newborn son, Naruto, sound asleep.

"I never wanted this life for you, Naruto- your father took it out of my hands." She frowns slightly as she looks at him, curled up in the cradle before stepping closer to him and moving the blanket aside to see the seal. "And the villagers… they'll never treat you like the hero I know you are." Sighing once more, she moves to sit before hearing a knocking on the door.

"Lady Hokage?" A stoic voice comes from outside of the door, that of an ANBU.

"Come in." Kushina says after a moment of hesitation at being addressed into a manner so similar as to that of her late husband, Minato, before sitting back down and donning the Hokage's hat, waiting for the ANBU to come in.

Opening the door and walking in, the neko masked ANBU kneels in front of the desk, addressing Kushina in a solemn voice. "The council has been called- the Elders are expecting you to arrive with all haste. I've been tasked with caring for your son while you are in the meeting."

Kushina frowns deeply for a moment before recomposing herself, recalling what Minato would say about always showing a firm front as Hokage. "Thank you, Neko. What chamber is the meeting being held in?" She stands, walking around the desk and to the ANBU's side.

"The council has requested for the meeting to be held in chamber number five, Lady Hokage." Neko replies, rising to her feet and bowing to Kushina before moving over to the cradle and picking up the young Naruto Uzumaki, who is still asleep, before disappearing in a shunshin(1) to the ANBU headquarters.

Cursing aloud, Kushina begins to make her way through the Hokage mansion and off of the main hall, walking down the E-Wing to chamber five. 'Minato, what have you left me?' Kushina thinks to herself as she walks, '_Our son will have to bear the hate of the villagers just like I did, but he won't have you to guide him_.' Frowning deeply, she composes herself before opening the doors to chamber five, stepping in.

"We've been awaiting you, Kushina." Danzo Shimura, the Leaf Elder, states as Kushina enters the chamber, eyes closed and hands clasped together, facing the doorway.

Kushina, gritting her teeth slightly, takes a deep breath before replying, "It's Lady Hokage to you, Danzo. Though it's not official in the eyes of the village yet, I am still your superior and should be addressed as such."

Danzo, inclining his head slightly, responds, "As you wish, Lady Hokage."

Shikaku yawns slightly before speaking, "Lady Hokage, if you'll take your seat, there's much to discuss in terms of damages and the repercussions of the attack."

Nodding, Kushina moves over to the Hokage's seat, sitting and folding her hands together, resting her head on them and looking out over the council members. "Thank you, Shikaku- there is a lot to discuss, but also in the way of the orphans. We lost many great shinobi to the attack, and a lot of them had children that are now alone, and the families that are in tact have had their homes and businesses destroyed. It will take a lot to recover from this attack." She says, her voice slightly sullen but easily heard throughout the chamber.

"Lady Hokage, if I may, what happened to cause the Kyuubi to be released from your seal?" Hiashi speaks up, his posture straight and his voice even and stoic as usual.

Thinking for a moment before replying, Kushina takes a deep breath. "The seals holding back the Kyuubi were weakened, and while trying to recover Minato and I were ambushed by a man wearing a black cloak, with his face covered by a mask with half circles on it revolving around the single eye hole. He took my newborn son and while Minato pursued him, he came back and took advantage of my weakened state, ripping the Kyuubi from my seal and releasing it..."

Kushina stands atop the Hokage Monument, looking out over the village and addressing them as she speaks, "And our Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, sacrificed his own soul as the price to pay to seal the Kyuubi into my son, Naruto." Kushina speaks firmly, her voice magnified via a sound enhancement jutsu, "And he is not a demon, but the hero who holds the Kyuubi back from wreaking havoc upon our village once more." She finishes, her voice that of steel, hoping to convince the villagers of Naruto's innocence and remind them of the burden that he carries to ensure their safety.

One Year Later

"Hey, is this about over Shikaku?" Tsume Inuzuka leans over, asking Shikaku Nara in the seat next to her as she stretches with a slight yawn. "I have pups to get back to."

"Troublesome…" Shikaku mutters, lifting his head off of his arms slightly.

"She has a point, you know." Chimes in Inoichi Yamanaka, "Some of us _do_ have clan members to get back to."

Yawning with a shrug, Shikaku speaks again, "Of course, of course. The last order of business we have to discuss is a request from the Civilian Council for more funding for the academy."

Quirking her eyebrow and speaking for the first time in the meeting, Kushina starts, "And what, may I ask, is this additional funding going towards? As far as I'm aware, the academy has a stipend which covers weaponry and damages expenses. Besides that, what could be needed?" She finishes, looking over the council, eyes moving between the Civilian half and the Shinobi half, "For that matter, since when have you had a say in the matter of how the academy is managed?"

"Lady Hokage, you gave us oversight for the minors, and orphans in particular after the attack last year. These are children, after all, who either lost family or home to the Kyuubi, and these are children who will be attending the academy. By extension, we should have control over the academy and the current curriculum." Finishes the representative of the Civilians, Hiro Mitakashi.

Slitting her eyes slightly and gripping her hands tighter together, her chin rested on them as she directs the glare towards the Civilian who had spoken. "And how, exactly, do you figure that?" She speaks, a hint of anger in her voice, as if offended by his very statement.

"As we've oversight regarding the orphans of the Kyuubi attack and the minors in general, like I just stated, we should have control over the academy that they go into, and what they are taught while they're there- after all, they're all children." Hiro replies again, his tone steady as he meets Kushina's glare.

"You do have oversight over the minors, that's true. However, as these academy students will be trained to be in the active shinobi roosters either immediately after graduating, or in a time of duress or war, so they, and the academy they're taught in, as well as what they are taught, falls directly under my jurisdiction. Although, I am curious as to what you could need the funding for, since the damages and the weaponry costs, along with the textbooks, are already covered." Kushina states calmly, her eyes still in a slight glare as she addresses the council as a whole, but her glare focused on Hiro.

"The Civilian Council believes that flower arrangement would be a suitable course to insert into the academy's curriculum for the Shinobi, both male and female. It would allow them a cover for missions outside of the village, we believe, such as espionage." Hiro states once more, his voice a bit more like silk now.

"Hmm. That is a possibility, however, for most shinobi that will go into active duty, far too few of them would be in a situation where that particular skill could come in handy. Most espionage missions would require a shinobi to be in a position to information well. A floral shop would not be the place for such information to be shared, after all. But, I think a course about herbology would come in handy because the information gleaned from it would allow for better, more efficient use of poison." Kushina says after a moment, truly considering the proposal from the Civilian council.

"Neko!" Kushina calls while she beckons the ANBU over with a wave of her hand. "Bring me a copy of the academy's current curriculum."

Nodding, Neko disappears from the chamber in a shunshin, returning a few moments later with a thin folder in hand, labelled 'Konoha Shinobi Academy', and holds it out to Kushina after bowing slightly. "The files, Hokage-sama."

"Thank you, Neko." Kushina dismisses as she accepts the files, opening the folder and spreading out a few files, 'hmm'ing as she reads. "Mitakashi, is it?" She asks, and continues after receiving a nod from the councilmen. "This curriculum is composed of history lessons, with minimal sparring, training, or chakra control lessons. Why is that?" Kushina asks, her voice neutral but her eyes a bit inflamed with frustration.

"The council feels, Hokage-sama, that more intelligent shinobi would be of use to us than shinobi who fight well, because tactics are often what win the day." Hiro replies smoothly and quickly.

"While that is true, Mitakashi-san, it's important to have shinobi, the vast majority of them, that are skilled in combat. A shinobi's life who lacks skills is a short one, and no matter how smart they are, knowing that the Shodaime Hokage used Wood Release wouldn't help anyone if there was a knife being held to their throat." Kushina replies steadily. "This curriculum will never work. Shikaku, stay after the meetin-" Kushina cuts off, tensing as she feels two strong spikes of chakra. '_What was that?!_' She thinks for a moment before realizing that she stopped speaking mid-sentence and was getting odd looks from all around the council. Kushina discretely looks over to one of the corners of chamber five, motioning with a simple finger gesture for Neko to come to her.

Shunshining to her side, the cat masked ANBU awaits her orders. Kushina whispers "Neko, I just felt chakra spikes on the outskirts of the village- their chakra.. something is odd about it. I want you to take your team and a heavy assault team to the North gate and travel fifteen klicks North East to see what's going on." Kushina whispers then pauses, thinking'_It has to be from outside of the village, and for me to feel it from here, in the council chamber… it's too strong._', before she dismissed Neko.

Nodding, Neko shunshins out of the room as Kushina motions for the other ANBU, who shunshins to her awaits his orders. "Tori, I want you to go alert sealing team six, and tell them to follow behind Neko's squads to the area of the disturbance and set up a barrier around the area. I don't want anyone unauthorized getting in or out of there without my say so." Bowing slightly, Tori disappears in a shunshin before Kushina turns back to the council, addressing them, "The council is dismissed." Standing, she leaves the room, immediately shunshining to her office and sitting down, awaiting Neko's report.

'_Why did that chakra feel so.. unique?_' Kushina wonders idly as she looks down at her desk, opening a scroll and grumbling slightly. '_Probably all the damn paperwork I have to do around here._' She muses as she reaches for her ink well, going through the scrolls.

With Neko

Neko, having shunshined outside of the council room, rolls up the sleeve on her ANBU standard issue uniform, revealing a small seal and pressing two fingers to it, pumping some of her chakra into it and focusing on the North gate, sending a signal to the special operations and Hokage Guard squads under her command to meet at the appointed gate before shunshining to the North gate, waiting as the rest of the ANBU reach the rendezvous point.

"Lady Hokage has appointed us the task of investigating chakra spikes on the outskirts of the village, past the barrier. We're to head fifteen klicks to the North East." Her second in command, Shiru, nods and turns to the platoon directly under her control, relaying the information before the ANBU move out, travelling through the dense forest and jumping tree from tree to the North East.

Neko, travelling quietly and efficiently as per her training, muses, '_Kushina-sama seemed worried… It's unlike her to call for ANBU in such a discrete manner._' She continues to travel with her squads, caught up in her thoughts to a small extent before stumbling on a branch as she finally senses the chakra spikes they were to investigate.

Pumping chakra into her feet to stick to the tree, the squads stop behind her as she takes in the scene before her.

In the middle of the clearing, there stands a man wearing a black cloak with red armor peaking out from under it, a pale orange mask on his face and his stance rigid, a single visible sharingan eye spinning violently as he lashes out once more with a kunai, down towards a woman who is kneeling on the ground, holding her sides in pain from when the man kicked her across the clearing. Seeing this, Neko recognizes the man as the masked man Kushina had informed the higher ranks of the Shinobi Corps about after the Kyuubi attack, and she shunshins down to the woman and unsheathes her tanto, quickly blocking the man's finishing blow before her assault team rushes down after seeing her move to block the attack, all of them surrounding the man in a circle and drawing their respective katana before rushing forward and striking out against him. The man dodges to the sides, ducking and weaving under the string of assaults before back flipping over the ANBU

Landing outside of the circle of ANBU, he mutters, "Katon: Yake Hahen(2)," and quickly performs the hand seals tiger-snake-tiger-dragon before pumping the chakra into his feet and kicking up dirt from the ground as a wave of fire shoots up in the form of a dragon from the dirt towards the ANBU.

"Suiton: Suijinchū (3)!" Three of the ANBU members call out as they perform the hand seals tiger-snake-rat-snake-tiger before blowing a torrent of water out towards the wave, forming a protective wall and a thick curtain of steam as the other ANBU look to Neko who holds a Half Right Tiger(4) seal before they execute assault plan three, the remaining six ANBU moving into three man groupings, with one man in each group boosting the others over the wall of water and through the steam to engage the man before he can get away.

After being boosted over, Neko dashes through the team and straight into a shinobi.

(1) Shunshin: Body Flicker

(2) Katon: Yake Hahen is a technique that translates to "Fire Release: Burned Shards", and chakra is moulded through handseals and then expelled out from the feet in a manner similar to water walking, and when used forms a fire dragon made of the earth kicked up along with Katon chakra.

(3) Suiton: Suijinchū is a technique that translates to "Water Release: Water Formation Pillar", and it kneads chakra into water inside of the user before being expelled out through the mouth. Similar in seals and effect to Water Release: Water Formation Wall.

(4) The basic ANBU communication seals are: Half Right Tiger, representing the number 3; Half Right Ox, representing the number 2; and Half Right Horse representing the number 1.

AN: Thank you for reading Part One of the prolouge.


	2. Chapter 2

Jikan to Kūkan no Chi o Seifuku

Chapter One/Prologue Part Two

AN: Prologue Arc ends here.

With Tori

Moving quickly through the forest, heading towards the northern barrier squad's HQ, the location of sealing team six. Bursting through the doors, Tori takes in several anbu dressed shinobi carefully monitoring a portion of Konoha's detection barrier. Tori, rushing in and not wasting any time with subtlety, she announces loudly "Sealing Team Six, you have been requested by Lady Hokage to follow me out to a site of conflict and seal it off for Konoha's ensured protection."

The addressed team quickly rises and a male ANBU, Uma, walks over to Tori. "What do we know of the situation?" he asks, his voice somewhat gravelly as he addresses Tori.

"Lady Hokage sensed chakra spikes fifteen klicks from the village. We're roughly seven klicks South West of the site now. We should move quickly, Kushina-sama demanded that no one enter or exit without her explicit say so." Tori says, turning without awaiting a reply.

Nodding, Uma turns and quickly relays the information to his team and issuing his orders. "We don't have orders to engage anyone. We're here to get there, seal it off, and keep the barrier held. Now, move out!" Uma, turning and following Tori up into the trees, orders his ANBU squad. Arriving near the area of the reported scene, Uma issues his orders. "Mimizu, I want you and Tsuru to seal the East and West portions, Buta, I want you to seal the South end of the perimeter while I complete the seal here." Flashing a seal to them that contains the Kanji for purple and the Kanji for death, he nods to them. "Use this seal. We'll activate it when you feel my chakra spike."

Tori turns to Uma. "I'll sort out the situation inside of the barrier. Remember, nothing in or out without Kushina-sama's, Neko-taicho, or my explicit orders." Turning after Uma gives a nod of affirmation, Tori runs into the soon-to-be sealed off portion of the forest. Running through the forest, Tori feels chakra spiking and sees a cloud of steam covering an area, and, recognizing it as an ANBU tactic to counter Katon jutsu, she rushes into the steam on the far side, hoping to aid the assault team and rapid response team before bumping into someone and falling to the side, and then rolling onto her feet in a defensive position.

With Neko

Turning quickly, Neko sees the faint outline of a defensive position through the steam and strikes forward with a kunai before her attack is met with a side sweeping kick from the side to her wrist, knocking the kunai's thrust aside and shifting her center of gravity. Readjusting her feet as she moves with the blow to minimize the damages, she completes the 360 degree spin before lashing out with a frontal kick of her own, which followed the feint of a kunai being thrown towards her opponent, and sweeps the figure onto their feet before diving down towards them. The opponent, rolling to the side, back flips twice to create space before the steam starts to clear enough for both combatants to notice the others' ANBU armor. Rolling into a standing position, Neko briskly nears the shinobi. "Identify yourself." She demands.

Nodding, Tori makes a Half Tiger seal, signifying that she was a Leaf ANBU, and proceeds to speak, "Tori of the ninth division." She speaks clearly. "I was in the council room when you were called by Lady Hokage, and Kushina-sama sent me to assemble the Sealing Team Six to seal off the area after she sent you to investigate. What's the situation here?" Tori asks, crossing her arms under her chest.

Relaxing her stance, but keeping her guard up, Neko answers, "The masked man that Hokage-sama warned us about after the Kyuubi was here. He was attacking a woman when we first arrived, and then we engaged him. It seems he used the steam to make his escape, though." Sighing and shaking her head slightly, Neko thinks, '_Kushina-sama won't be happy about this._'.

"Taicho!" Rang out a voice from across the clearing, and Neko turns to face the Lion masked ANBU Raion. "This man is unconscious and losing blood fast and Rakuda says that his wounds are too severe for her to heal in the field!"

AN: This was just a teaser for Prolouge Part Two, you can expect the finished product around this time tomorrow night.

Taking in the situation, Neko quickly makes the decision to try to get the two unconscious shinobi back to village alive. "Raion, I want your team to immediately transport those two to the hospital's prison ward and alert Hokage-sama that we have a Code Zero Dark Thirty!" Neko orders before turning to Tori, "I want you to have this barrier taken down immediate!" Then Neko turns to address her squad, "You three begin an immediate search of the battlefield, I want to know why they were so close to our barrier!" Neko commands.

"Hai Taicho!" was the response heard throughout the clearing as eight ANBU carried out their superiors orders.

With Raion

Watching his team quickly gather up the two unconscious forms, Raion takes point and orders his team to move out. After traveling for several minutes he spots the edge of a powerful barrier. "Barrier ahead! Drop speed until it falls, then proceed at a standard combat pace!" directs the squad leader. After seeing the barrier shimmer then disappear Raion and his squad speed up past the previous barrier perimeter.

"Raion!" Yells Rakuda "There's something strange going on with this guys body, its being covered in some kind of seal!" Informs the camel masked ANBU with a nearly undetectable hint of worry.

"Squad! Drop the cargo and retreat!" orders Raidon. Moving to a safe distance after dropping both injured shinobi, the ANBU squad had just enough time to witness the seals finish spreading the entire length of the male's body before it burst into dome of white flames. The ANBU watched on in slight awe as the flames were hot enough to scorch the ground underneath but somehow didn't burn the area next to the dome leaving the womans body wholly intact.

After the flames died out Raion was surprised to find no trace of the body left it having been completely consumed in a matter of seconds. "Ookami, Kuma!" he yells to the wolf and bear masked ANBU, respectively, that fill out the remainder of his squad. "I want you to both make a **Mizu Bunshin**(1) to carry the remaining body 15 feet in between me and Rakuda while the two of you spread out to our flanks incase that little display of fireworks alerted anyone in the area." Orders the lion masked squad leader. "Rakuda! I'll take point, I want you to bring up the rear. If you see a single seal start to spread call out immediately!" Seeing the orders well received Raidon continued, "Alright squad, Move out!"

With Kushina

After returning to her office to await a report on the two chakra signatures, Kushina is deep in thought about the oddness of what she sensed. With all the privacy seals around the council chambers that block sight, sound and even chakra from escaping she shouldn't have felt anything from so far! Granted the seals only dampen so much, enough to block the chakra from a byakugan or sharingan, they were still designed by her, a seal master, only something incredibly strong could possibly be felt from that distance

Then perhaps more troubling were the signatures of the spikes themselves, they were brief and she didn't get the proper time to examine them but for some reason they felt familiar. Further still they seemed polar opposites to her, one conjured a sense of dread and unease when she mentally reexamined it, but the other reminded her of happiness and childhood. For the life of her she couldnt understand why these signatures conjured such feelings in her.

Deciding she was done waiting Kushina shunshined to the north gate hoping to see the teams arrive. within moments of getting there she felt a tremendously strong chakra spike roughly 12 klicks from her in the same direction as the initial chakra signatures. What's more she recognized this chakra signature as a seal she once saw her father, the Uzukage, use at the last battle for Uzugakure. The seal, as known to her, was designed by her father and used to completely destroy the seal bearers body and soul upon death, preventing any secrets from being learned through autopsy as well as prevent resurrection and enslavement through the edo tensei he created with the nidaime hokage. Wondering at the use of seal she thought only known to her and her now deceased father, Kushina breaks the standard protocol, established after her husband's death, and rushes to the site of the chakra flares.

Moving through the forest at speeds that would make her personal ANBU,Neko,envious with desire, kushina soon comes across a squad of ANBU carrying a Woman towards her. "Raidon, report!" she commands of the lead ANBU.

"Hai hokage-sama! shortly after arriving at the scene of the chakra flares we encountered a man fitting the description of one Madara Uchiha fighting against a badly injured woman who seemed to be protecting a fallen man. after engaging the Uchiha, he escaped in the steam created from two colliding attacks. Neko-Taicho, then ordered us to transport both bodies to the hospital. In transit the male victim's body suddenly covered in seals, after dropping both we witnessed the man be consumed by white flames. deciding to be more cautious we created two **Mizu Bunshin** to carry the remaining body" reported the long winded lion masked ANBU.

Catching sight of the mangled form held by the two ANBU clones, Kushina's breath catches in her throat as a series of thoughts run through her mind. Paralyzed at the sight of the short red hair and pale, flawless marble skin and sculpted face of her sister, a tear runs down her face from the corner of her left eye as the emotional kage takes in the unconscious form that could only belong to one person. '_How?!'_ the mentally strained and emotionally torn apart redhead questions herself, the tear staining down the side of her face before dropping to the ground. '_She died! I saw her body ran through by the sword! I mourned her as I ran for my life!' _Nearly panicked and breathing heavily, Kushina makes an effort to steel herself and issue orders.

"Raion! I want her taken to the hospital and given the best care possible! Alert Doctor Hikairi that I want him working on her, and send out a team to retrieve Tsunade Senju of the Sannin! I don't care if she has to be brought back hog tied or with every bone in her body shattered, I want her here at once!" Nearly screeching at this point, the emotional kage finishes.

"Hokage-sama?" questions the lion masked ANBU, in light of his leaders strange orders before flinching in almost physical pain and utter fear at the glare he finds directed at him, before Kushina shouts again.

"Get moving this instant!" Kushina allows fury to seep into her voice at the show of insubordination, watching her utterly frightened ANBU take off at top speeds. Throwing all pretense of caution to the proverbial wind, Kushina dashes off in the direction of Neko and the original chakra signatures at top speed, dropping several weight seals with a single hand seal and blurring away. Kushina comes across two more ANBU carrying an injured third. "Report!" Kushina demands after nearly blurring through them as she watches the ANBU stop to comply.

"Hai! After we were given the orders to investigate the suspicious activities in the area, we dispatched from Konoha and travelled to the area. When we arrived, Neko-taicho engaged a masked man, assumed Madara Uchiha, but after we engaged him in combat, he used steam cover to escape our forces. Neko-Taicho ordered us to investigate the battle site. After several minutes of searching we found a solid white barrier roughly 1 klick East of the clearing the battle took place in. Once Neko arrived we began investigating, and Ushi touched the barrier and was badly burned by white flames. The Taicho ordered Hato and I to transport him to the hospital for medical attention." replied Risu, the squirrel masked ANBU in reference to the cow and dove masked ANBU, respectively.

Nodding, Kushina orders them to carry on before resuming her break neck pace towards her second in command and the answers she desperately seeks. Arriving in front of a startled Neko Kushina waves away her attempt at a report. "I've already been briefed Neko. I'm going to examine the barrier, I believe it may be of Uzumaki origin." The very slowly calming Kage informs.

"Hai!" responds the slightly worried Neko, having not seen her both kage and master look this rattled since the death of her husband. Inspecting the barrier, Kushina notices that it is a variation on a Uzumaki Four Corner Purifying Flame barrier that typically takes four chunin or higher ninja to power it and sustain it, but seems to have been modified in the field to run off of the natural chakra from the world around the seal, plants close to the sealed barrier having started to wither slightly and wilt. '_Little sister... whatever you have been up to all these years, becoming a seal master is certainly part of it. This seal matrix is incredible! It seems as though the very flames themselves are actually highly intricate seals and covering a 6x6x6 cube... it must have been a massive undertaking. What could you have wanted to protect so fiercely?' _Kushina wonders in slight awe of her sisters' sealing talent.

Remembering the location for the access seal on this type of barrier, Kushina quickly moves to inspect it. Noticing that its not the standard release but infact a blood seal seemingly keyed in to Uzumaki DNA, something that would have taken longer than the standard release seals, and had undoubtedly been a high risk while being pursued. '_What were you protecting from Madara that you'd waste so much time on this..?' _Kushina mused silently, utterly lost in her thoughts. ' _Why did you want me to be able to access it? What was so valuable that a man like Madara was willing to chase you across the country and to the outskirts of our village for?' _She wonders. The now even more confused Kushina stands as she quickly bitely her thumb and smears blood on the barriers' access seal.

Watching the white flames shimmer then fade before completely disappearing, Kushina gazes inside with awe and then gasps, catching sight of two seemingly identical sleeping four year old boys. With streaks of red and black hair and a face that they could have only gotten from her little sister, suddenly Kushina knows exactly who these two would have to be. '_What were you doing with your children way out here, Kishina? Were you bringing them to me..?'_ Kushina muses, her face ashen with the realization of the current events. '_Why did Madara want them? That man… was he the one the ANBU spoke of? Could he have been their father? Just what is going on?' _ Kushina wonders, a seemingly more bewildered look crosses across her eyes came across two scrolls tucked into the childrens' hands. Picking them up, she notices that one is a basic Uzumaki seal, but the other is a Uzumaki blood clan seal, usually only used for ritual celebration and almost never used in practical situations. '_Just how important can the content of these scrolls be?'_ Kushina wonders idly, pocketing the scrolls and picking up the two children, both seeming a bit more conscious than before. Cradling the boys in her arms gently, Kushina begins to move at a slightly slower rate than before towards the village, taking care not to jostle the children on the way before feeling a sudden spike of chakra again. Kushina dashes rapidly towards the area of the spike, remembering that it was the same spike she felt before abandoning her office, she abandons her caution and moves at the highest speeds she can without dropping the children, but they're both jostled into complete awareness. After a few moments of running at near full speed, Kushina reaches the site of the chakra spike and promptly sets the children on the ground, running over to her still unconscious sister and watching in horror as the seals starts to cover her body. The children use each other to stand up, swaying slightly and still weak from their forcefully induced comatose state before wobbling over closer to where their mother lay, nearing her just close enough to see the seals completely wrap around her and her body burst into white flames before first one, and then the other, pass into unconsciousness again.

With Kushina, 5 Days Later

Wondering about the time off her most trusted ANBU, Neko, requested Kushina realizes she was still too distraught over the death of her sister to properly question the normally devoted ANU about it. Leaning forward in her chair as there was a knock on her door she tiredly calls,"Come in", and seeing Yugao Uzuki, her faithful ANBU, appear before her without being in standard ANBU attire as Neko, made the previously mentally drained and emotionally exhausted kage perk up with sudden interest. "Yugao? I must admit, I didn't expect to see you on your day off." started Kushina.

"Hai. Kushina-sama, I've come to you about a sensitive personal matter." Replied the sometimes cat masked ANBU, "Two weeks ago my half-sister, the apprentice of Orochimaru of the Sannin, Anko Mitarashi, left the village on a training trip. Three days ago Orochimaru returned as scheduled but Anko did not. I asked for days for a team to be sent to look for her. I've even checked Orochimaru's three registered labs and not only did I not find her there, it appears that none of those labs have been used in months." Continued Neko, her voice somewhat strained if one were to listen closely enough.

Frowning deeply, Kushina spoke "So, where is your sister? And further, how has Orochimaru been turning in weekly reports on his experiments if he's not conducting them in his labs? I wonder if this coincides with the sudden increase of missing orphans over the past four months..." Muses the kage, more to herself then her ANBU. "I think it's time Orochimaru answered some questions, and the meeting to discuss the academy curriculum in two days will be the perfect time. After all, thanks to Tsunade's return, we now have all three of the Legendary Sannin in village." Kushina states firmly. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Yugao."

Nodding before hesitating slightly, Yugao steps forward slightly and bows her head. "I'm very… concerned about Anko. She lost her father and our mother the night of the Kyuubi attack, we became the only family each other has left. Please, Kushina-sama… if you can find her…" Yugao trails off, looking to the side slightly.

"I'll do everything that I can, Yugao, to find Anko. Now, go get some rest. You look terrible. Take off until the meeting. I want you there for it, and well rested. I have a feeling that I'll be needing you, and you'll find your answers there." Kushina states softly, looking over at Yugao.

Bowing before leaving, Yugao silently thanks Kushina for her understanding in the matter before walking out of the door.

Council Room, Two Days Later

"Kushina-sama, if it's not too bold, why did you call this meeting?" Hiashi Hyuga asks, his posture straight and voice, along with mannerisms, stoic as per his usual.

"This meeting is to discuss the new curriculum of the Academy. Standards have fallen, and the deceased genin numbers are increasing. It's a time of peace right now, so it's the perfect time to build up our reserves more slowly, but make sure that they are adept enough in the shinobi arts to be better than cannon fodder. After all, cannon fodder is only good for one use, two if they're resilient." Kushina speaks, her tone somewhat tight, but not noticeably to anyone in the room who wasn't savvy to the plans for the meeting.

"Lady Hokage, I don't understand why we're needed here if it's only regarding the academy curriculum." Tsunade of the Sannin chimes in from one of the three seats added in so that the Sannin could be seated around the table.

"This is the first time in quite awhile that all three of the Sannin have been in the village at the same time, and, being that you went through the old academy, you can tell us best how the changes would affect our academy students as well as our Genin." Kushina says before continuing, "Now, the academy will still be held over the course of four years, however, the curriculum for each year is being changed. The first year of the academy will now be composed of physical conditioning, taijutsu, the leaf spinning chakra control exercise, and basic first aid, enough to patch someone up after a friendly, taijutsu only spar. These, of course, will be built upon as the years go by. Tsunade, you mentioned something about there being a lack of appreciation for medic-nin in the shinobi corps, right? Due, in part, to... recent events, it only makes sense for me to say that we need more medic-nin. Orochimaru, you sent me a lab report," here she shuffles through some folders, looking down at a report from three weeks ago, "That has some very interesting effects concerning muscle production and herbs that can affect the rate of it. Is there anything you've come across in your laboratory that says it's ready for.. human testing, perhaps?" Kushina's voice dips slightly here, barely noticeably, and Orochimaru starts to speak.

"Hokage-sama, there are… many experiments that I am currently working on regarding the metabolic rates in the body as a whole. Without more specifications, I couldn't possibly know if anything is viable." He says smoothly, each syllable flowing like water in a stream.

"Of course, Orochimaru. I hope you wouldn't mind hearing the specifications after this meeting, then?" She asks, and continues without awaiting a response. "The second year's curriculum will be composed of basic weapon handling technique for kunai, shuriken, and senbon, jutsu theory as it concerns the hand seals, tree climbing, and to be considered ready to pass and move onto the third year, they will have to kill a small animal, anything ranging from a squirrel to a raccoon of some sort, dissect it, and then be familiar with it's anatomy." Kushina states evenly. "Orochimaru, are you currently conducting any experiments concerning the effect of such desensitization on young children, perhaps?" Kushina asks, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Hokage-sama, you know that experiments concerning the psychological effects or manipulations of the mind concerning desensitizing minors to murder have been outlawed since the end of the Nidaime Hokage's reign." Orochimaru replies, his gaze through his slitted eyes even, but his body language resembles a snake in fear, coiling for a feint strike.

Nodding slightly, seemingly in thought. "You're quite right Orochimaru. Now, the third year's curriculum will be composed of learning bunshin no jutsu, henge no jutsu, and kawarimi no jutsu, water walking, basic seal theory, testing for elemental affinities and survival training, including tracking and stealth lessons, and courses concerning killing and then cleaning larger animals, and preparing them as food." Looking over at Jiraiya, Kushina questions, "Do you think that this is too soon to start basic seal theory? After all, it is a very basic art, any all uzumaki children would be adept in it by age six or seven, and it's incredibly useful."

"Well, Kushina-chan, sealing is actually a very intricate art, after all, but it would do the gakis some good to learn it young." Jiraiya states.

Her eye twitching slightly, Kushina replies near instantly. "Need I remind you, Jiraiya, that I am your Hokage? Kushina-sama will be fine." She says with a slight mock glare, having taken no real defense. "The fourth year will be composed of learning two C-Rank jutsu that correspond to a students chakra nature, for earth and water one offensive and one defensive. For fire, wind, and lightning two offensive as defensive jutsu for those elements are few and are all of high rank. After learning the basic elemental manipulation for their respective nature, they'll further their study of the Bunshin by learning an elemental variant of it. In order to improve combat ability and response time in emergencies, as well as provide quicker transport during evacuations, I've decided to take the previously chunin requisite jutsu, the Shunshin, and teach it during this year in the academy. Following up on the basic seal theory learned the previous year, students will be learning two basic and effective seals, the storage and explosive addition to this, they will be expected to go along on a bandit raid, and make at least one human kill while there. We have too many Genin who come fresh from the academy that die because they can't handle their first kill, or hesitate to make it. Stealth and infiltration will also be a main focus during this year of the academy, and improved first aid, alongside or in place of, basic medical ninjutsu and human anatomy will be taught. In order to graduate this year, the students will have to fight against pre-approved Genin for at least thirty minutes while on top of water, perform the three basic ninjutsu, use three elemental jutsu at least once a piece, and all in a combat situation. There will be a written test covering jutsu theory, seal theory, human anatomy, and battlefield tactics, a weapon's accuracy examination, a simulated infiltration mission in three man cells, exhibit the use of the mystical palm technique to treat a one inch deep gash, or use first aid to perform same level of healing on the same injury. It'll lastly be followed by two thirty second timed test in which students will have to make both a storage and explosive seal." Kushina states, before looking around the room. "The meeting is dismissed. Any queries regarding the academy curriculum can be submitted to me. Now get out." She states before glancing at Orochimaru as the others start to awkwardly shuffle out of the council room.

Seeing the last council member walk out of the chambers, Kushina quickly raises a barrier suppression seal of her own creation designed to completely suppress the chakra of all occupants. The only way around it is to have a counter seal over a large cluster of your chakra points, something Kushina and her ANBU certainly did. Orochimaru, noticing his access to his chakra suddenly severed made to retreat only for him to notice he was unable to move his body." Do you like that, Orochi-chan?" questions the kage in a slightly sickly sweet voice. "It's a seal following the base of the Nara clan's shadow possession technique. Basically anything living within a 10 foot radius of the seal placed under your chair gets trapped in a shadow possession twice as strong as any Nara's. Now, Orochi-chan, I think it's time you answered some questions."

"Hokage-sama! What is the meaning of this you cannot impris-" Orochimaru suddenly gasps as he feels something violently slammed into his stomach, looking up he witnesses Kushina applying a seal to the core of his chakra. Realizing he didn't even see or sense her move, the once sacred snake begins seeing vision of his seemingly imminent death.

"Now that your chakra is cut off directly from that seal I placed. I can drop the barrier and allow Inoichi in." Informs the slightly smirking Kage. Seeing the doors open and the head of the Yamanaka clan, Inoichi, walk in Kushina speaks, "Inoichi, I want you to mind-walk Orochimaru on charges of treason and kidnapping." directs the Kage.

Reaching down and taking Orochimaru's head in his hands, Inoichi focuses on connecting his mind to that of the accused traitor. After several minutes Inoichi jumps back from Orochimaru, all shinobi training failing him as his face show unchecked shock and fear,

"Inoichi! What did you see?!" Demands the astonished Kage, never knowing Inoichi to lose his calm before. "H-Hokage-sama... itis.. I can't believe it, but he's still alive...! And Orochimaru… he's nothing more than a pawn…" Responds a dazed Inoichi, "Who are you talking about?" Kushina grinds out between her teeth. "The White Fang… Sakumo Hatake… he wants to destroy the Leaf…" Inoichi trails off.

Hokage Mansion, Later That Day

After long and detailed interrogation sessions and personally escorting the traitor to the T&amp;I department, Kushina walks in her front door to face something nearly as scary as the destruction of her village at the hands of former hero… two four year old grieving nephews and her year old son. Remembering the present she had her assistant pick up, Kushina unseals two calligraphy sets and says "Ok, guys... I know you're still torn up inside by what happened but you're both Uzumaki and you're both future shinobi. and when someone precious to a shinobi dies they train hard to protect their remaining precious people, and when an Uzumaki wants to train, there's no better place to start than this..." she trails off as she presents the calligraphy sets, "It's time to become strong Uzumaki Shinobi." She finishes softly, never having been one to deal with grief too well, and hoped that the kids took to it well.

AN: Thank you for reading chapter one, Part Two of the Prologue!

AN: Edit, 20-4-15. At least 13 reviews will have to be made for this story before the actual story starts, and guest accounts don't count.


End file.
